Larry D. Lauer

The new digital media ecosystem is a game-changer.

The recent NATO meeting is proof of the power of new media technology. Many media platforms spread Trump’s attacks on his allies instantly around the world. They created immediate confusion, and much of it was divisive, emotional, and totally bewildering.

To be sure, social media platforms can be useful tools. Unfiltered contact with audiences can be positive. Blogging and tweeting gives opinion writers the opportunity to publish constructive unfiltered ideas. Many platforms are also useful professional tools for doctors, teachers, lawyers, etc. And, of course, some platforms provide fun and games, quality entertainment, and daily exchanges with friends and family.

But these platforms are also creating problems:

1. Wastes time. Some people become addicted to social media. Others never stop to think that some of that time could be spent more productively.
2. Becomes fads. For example, one student advised me to talk to her mother about Facebook. She is now addicted to Instagram and Snapchat.
3. Alters the brain. Researcher Nicholas Carr found that constant use can reduce the capacity of the brain to process details.
4. Enhances depression. While happily interconnecting circles of friends, social media can also show how some are more popular than others. Being left out is pushing some into depression, and even suicide. Research at MIT has also shown how excessive texting makes some young people want to avoid healthy face-to-face situations.
5. Enables bullying. Social media can encourage bullying because it allows the perpetrator to avoid feeling responsible for the consequences.
6. Distributes fake news. Lies and conspiracies about adversaries can be easily, instantly, and effectively distributed to the world.
7. Enables emotional warfare. By eliminating key facts, selectively emphasizing others, and creating alternate truths, anyone or any group can be effectively and publicly attacked.
8. Eliminates personal privacy. Most platforms gather personal profile data which today is constantly being distributed to adversaries and advertisers.
9. Allows autocrats to dictate. A media platform that bypasses the news media can become a lethal and confusing leadership tool. It can also enable the development of a worldwide ruling council of autocrats.
10. Distracted parenting. Living constantly with their face in a smart phone or I-Pad removes many adults from connecting intellectually and emotionally with their children.

These problems may seem obvious. But many of us ignored them as they rapidly multiplied. Now our only defense seems to be monitoring bank and other accounts for hackers, while simultaneously promoting greater media literacy. One thing for certain about communication… conventional wisdom doesn’t work any longer.

We simply must find more ways in schools, organizations, and communities to teach more people how to think carefully about what they are consuming and communicating. They are the selectors of the platforms and editors of the information they consume… and it’s very easy to become overwhelmed and confused.